This thought occurred to me yesterday: With all of these "essays" the church is putting out to address thorny issues, could they be helping the anti-mormons?

What I mean is all these facts and info which for years TBMs have brushed off as "anti-mormon lies" are now being admitted to by the church and suddenly, exmos and postmos are armed with CREDIBILITY. The things which my TBM wife refused to believe, she is now forced to believe, because they appear on the lord's one true web site.

Now I can tell her "Not only are these things true, but there are other things which are also true, but the church is hiding the whole truth or is not coming completely clean. I was telling you the truth all along, and now you know it. The church has admitted to it."

Maybe the whole idea is an attempt to take the air out of Post-Mo tires...trying to save what they can, knowing not all folks will buy the tale.
Attack, then deflate. Great strategy.

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”I’ve begun worshiping the sun for a number of reasons. First of all, unlike some other gods I could mention, I can see the sun. It’s there for me every day. And the things it brings me are quite apparent all the time: heat, light, food, a lovely day. There’s no mystery, no one asks for money, I don’t have to dress up, and there’s no boring pageantry. And interestingly enough, I have found that the prayers I offer to the sun and the prayers I formerly offered to God are all answered at about the same 50-percent rate.” George Carlin

What I mean is all these facts and info which for years TBMs have brushed off as "anti-mormon lies" are now being admitted to by the church and suddenly, exmos and postmos are armed with CREDIBILITY. The things which my TBM wife refused to believe, she is now forced to believe, because they appear on the lord's one true web site.

Sorta.

The problem is, the Church doesn't interpret the information in such a way so as to come to the conclusion that Joseph made it all up. They come to the conclusion that the Lord works in mysterious ways, using an imperfect man to restore God's gospel, and isn't that awesome?!

And if you are a faithful believer, the credibility advantage is with the church, not with former Mormons or critics of the church.

I would suppose your wife is only forced to believe the FACTS as they are represented in those essays, but remains free to believe in the INTERPRETATION of those facts however she chooses. She COULD choose to see it as you have, but she could more easily read it with the same tinted glasses that the church used to write it.

The problem is, the Church doesn't interpret the information in such a way so as to come to the conclusion that Joseph made it all up. They come to the conclusion that the Lord works in mysterious ways, using an imperfect man to restore God's gospel, and isn't that awesome?!

And if you are a faithful believer, the credibility advantage is with the church, not with former Mormons or critics of the church.

I would suppose your wife is only forced to believe the FACTS as they are represented in those essays, but remains free to believe in the INTERPRETATION of those facts however she chooses. She COULD choose to see it as you have, but she could more easily read it with the same tinted glasses that the church used to write it.

Remember...SHE is their intended audience, not you!

Good point, but I wonder how many TBMs will ever read these essays? They are not on the front page of LDS.org. One has to know where to look for them. Even when one finds the "gospel topics" section, they only highlight 6 topics, which currently are Jesus Christ, Christmas, Are mormons Christian, First Vision Accounts, Race and the Priesthood, and Gospel Learning. No mention of Polygamy or BoM Translation. You have to engage the search function. If you don't know they're there, you ain't gonna find them.

I think it all comes down to plausible deniability. "Look, it's on our web page! We're not hiding anything!"

The problem is, the Church doesn't interpret the information in such a way so as to come to the conclusion that Joseph made it all up. They come to the conclusion that the Lord works in mysterious ways, using an imperfect man to restore God's gospel, and isn't that awesome?!

And if you are a faithful believer, the credibility advantage is with the church, not with former Mormons or critics of the church.

I would suppose your wife is only forced to believe the FACTS as they are represented in those essays, but remains free to believe in the INTERPRETATION of those facts however she chooses. She COULD choose to see it as you have, but she could more easily read it with the same tinted glasses that the church used to write it.

Remember...SHE is their intended audience, not you!

Good point, but I wonder how many TBMs will ever read these essays? They are not on the front page of LDS.org. One has to know where to look for them. Even when one finds the "gospel topics" section, they only highlight 6 topics, which currently are Jesus Christ, Christmas, Are mormons Christian, First Vision Accounts, Race and the Priesthood, and Gospel Learning. No mention of Polygamy or BoM Translation. You have to engage the search function. If you don't know they're there, you ain't gonna find them.

I think it all comes down to plausible deniability. "Look, it's on our web page! We're not hiding anything!"

Exactly. I think Peter_mary (hey, P_M !!) has it right that TBMs are the targeted audience, but it's not even all TBMs, it's just those who are questioning and searching. Some of that subset will be satisfied that there are no more secrets and the church has "addressed" the issues.

Another subset may be young members who will not know that there ever were secrets.

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As Neo reaches for the red pill Morpheus warns Neo
“Remember, all I’m offering is the truth. Nothing more.”

I do believe the essays are going to help us--in a lot of ways. We can show them to TBMs--and yes--tell them they are trying to deflate the issue; what the essays address area problem areas. They have opened the conversation for us with a TBM who has reason now to listen. Only there is a lot more to be learned--like the rest of the story.

Maybe this is silly but I wonder if they are worried about fraud and damage lawsuits that are surely coming. If they put part of the truth out there on the ugly issues, which they have hidden in order to keep the rank and file marching, paying, praying and obeying--do they think they can say, "Look we did not hide this stuff." I don't know. I do know I do not trust them at all. Their backs are against the wall.

Maybe they feel they have to do something. I believe these essays will help us a great deal. The morg's problem is that they just keep underestimating us as far as our abilities, passion to free our fellow man and woman and a whole lot more. We have amazing things going for us--like truth!

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I laughed out loud and said “Thank you sir. And I hope every time you hear the name of JS you don’t think about him having sex with those girls and the women who were already married because if you’re going to start being honest with yourself then sooner or later you will also realize a real god would never do that, a real prophet would never do that, and it’s all just bull shit.”
Oh mercy, it just felt so damn good to say that. —BOLD WISH